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Living the Fitbit life

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Re: Living the Fitbit life

#61

Post by Tyrannosaurs »

I have (but no longer wear) a FuelBand.

My experience was that I found the data initially interesting (mostly that the idea anyone was under the Nike "average" staggering - I have a desk job and don't consider myself massively active but easily hit it most days) but the problem I had was that in a busy life I found relatively little room to flex what I was doing in any substantial way.

My week day routine essentially goes - get up, get ready for work, get kids up, leave, drive to work, work, drive home, get kids bathed and into bed, tidy house, get dinner, eat... and by that time it's about 9pm and I've either got to do whatever jobs need doing or relax. In itself that routine is relatively active outside the desk job (kids...) but there isn't a lot of wiggle room.

My commute isn't easily changable (I live in a rural location so anything other than driving is out), I can sometimes get out and go for a walk at lunchtime and I try to do walking meetings if possible (maybe once a week) but generally speaking my day is my day and I can't really change much.

As a result measuring it didn't feel like it had much point - the number was the number and it was relatively rare I'd look at it and think I could have done better.

Re: Living the Fitbit life

#62

Post by tptacek »

Tyrannosaurs wrote: post #61

I have (but no longer wear) a FuelBand. My experience was that I found the data initially interesting (mostly that the idea anyone was under the Nike "average" staggering - I have a desk job and don't consider myself massively active but easily hit it most days) but the problem I had was that in a busy life I found relatively little room to flex what I was doing in any substantial way. My week day routine essentially…

I have roughly similar problems; for instance, I could walk more by taking public transportation instead of driving, but that would add overhead disproportionate to the benefit (I'd lose about 1.5 hours out of every day, and a huge amount of schedule flexibility).

But: can you do things like park further away from work?

When I lived in Ann Arbor, I was walking distance from the office. I really miss looking forward to that walk (listening to music and clearing my head for an hour a day), and I was definitely healthier then than I am now.

Re: Living the Fitbit life

#63

Post by tptacek »

Does anyone have a sense of how accurate the M7 step counter is on the iPhone 5S? Is there a point in having a Fitbit if you basically always carry a 5S around with you?

I've been watching the step counter on the phone over my trip to the UK and I'm surprised how motivating it is.

Re: Living the Fitbit life

#65

Post by TarpitCarnivore »

tannerc wrote: post #11

I'm fairly active — running on a treadmill for 20 minutes then lifting weights for 30 every day of the week, walking nearly everywhere, only using stairs, etc. — but I can't bring myself to use these types of trackers. I eagerly ordered the SE Nike+ band when it was announced, I used it for maybe a week before giving it away to a friend. Perhaps it wasn't as interesting to me because there was no way to compare my nu…

Something like the Basis Band may be a better choice for you. It has issues with tracking your heart rate during intense activities, but I think with what you're doing it should still work. The points of data it captures blows away anything else on the market is doing. Unfortunately their future is a bit in limbo since Intel bought them.

Re: Living the Fitbit life

#66

Post by halviti »

anonova wrote: post #24

I had a Fitbit Force for a couple of weeks before falling victim to the the rash/skin irritation problem [1]. It got quite bad, and my doctor had to prescribe a topical steroid for it to go away. Fitbit handled the situation rather poorly. There were hundreds of users complaining about the problem in their community forum, and it took months for the company to initiate a recall. What annoyed me the most was that duri…

Everything I have read seems to suggest that the problem is not with the product and more with the individual and what happens when you allow something to cover your skin and never take it off for a long period of time. The larger surface area of the force being the biggest problem.

I don't think a recall taking a few months is extreme, as an investigation into what is causing a medical problem might not be the easiest thing in the entire world, not to mention the fact that it just takes time to investigate period. I'm also sure that the decision to stop selling them entirely and to ask everyone to return them, likely to have them never be sold again, is not something that is often decided at a moment's notice because someone complained on an internet forum.

Re: Living the Fitbit life

#67

Post by VLM »

jcromartie wrote: post #32
tannerc wrote: post #11

I'm fairly active — running on a treadmill for 20 minutes then lifting weights for 30 every day of the week, walking nearly everywhere, only using stairs, etc. — but I can't bring myself to use these types of trackers. I eagerly ordered the SE Nike+ band when it was announced, I used it for maybe a week before giving it away to a friend. Perhaps it wasn't as interesting to me because there was no way to compare my nu…

You're not the target market for these things. They are motivational items for people who don't exercise every day, but want to.

"They are motivational items for people who don't exercise every day, but want to"

More precisely, metric optimizers or those who like grind games.

My chronological experience with my fitbit was exactly the same as my experience with EVEonline and a couple other MMORPGs.

They work, and work well, and the exercise trackers are doing a good thing, but only for a small susceptible segment of the population.

I still carry the thing in my pocket and charge it and glance at the weekly emails, but when it breaks, I'm all done. Still going to walk after meals and go on weekend hikes, just like I've done for decades without keeping track.

Re: Living the Fitbit life

#68

Post by jasonkester »

tptacek wrote: post #62
Tyrannosaurs wrote: post #61

I have (but no longer wear) a FuelBand. My experience was that I found the data initially interesting (mostly that the idea anyone was under the Nike "average" staggering - I have a desk job and don't consider myself massively active but easily hit it most days) but the problem I had was that in a busy life I found relatively little room to flex what I was doing in any substantial way. My week day routine essentially…

I have roughly similar problems; for instance, I could walk more by taking public transportation instead of driving, but that would add overhead disproportionate to the benefit (I'd lose about 1.5 hours out of every day, and a huge amount of schedule flexibility). But: can you do things like park further away from work? When I lived in Ann Arbor, I was walking distance from the office. I really miss looking forward t…

Sounds like you're flirting with the answer. Eventually, you hit a point where your health becomes more important than 10 billable hours a week.

I made this leap this year, explicitly cutting down to 4 day weeks and making fitness a priority again.

The previous 3 years were my least healthy on record. Two separate month-long flus and that annual six-month cold thing that never seems to go away. Coincided nicely with committing to a 40hr/week contract.

I'm 5 months in to this now. A bit less billed than this time last year, but not a sniffle in all that time.

Re: Living the Fitbit life

#69

Post by Tyrannosaurs »

tptacek wrote: post #62
Tyrannosaurs wrote: post #61

I have (but no longer wear) a FuelBand. My experience was that I found the data initially interesting (mostly that the idea anyone was under the Nike "average" staggering - I have a desk job and don't consider myself massively active but easily hit it most days) but the problem I had was that in a busy life I found relatively little room to flex what I was doing in any substantial way. My week day routine essentially…

I have roughly similar problems; for instance, I could walk more by taking public transportation instead of driving, but that would add overhead disproportionate to the benefit (I'd lose about 1.5 hours out of every day, and a huge amount of schedule flexibility). But: can you do things like park further away from work? When I lived in Ann Arbor, I was walking distance from the office. I really miss looking forward t…

I spend 8 or 9 hours a week commuting - that's the biggest waste for me. I don't dislike it - I listen to podcasts, mull things over ahead of getting home (which really helps with not taking problems home) and so on - but I can think of so many better ways of spending that time including on my health.

Ideally I'd live closer to work but I like living rurally and that's not ideal of IT jobs. As I work in management remote working is a relatively limited option, at least for most of the opportunities around here.

Parking further away is possible but really I'm just adding more time to the commute - 15 minutes walking rather than 3 minutes driving. If I could free up that time I'd probably be better off just taking it off as a 30 minute chunk and going for a walk a lunch.

Walking meetings have been a good solutions - I have a few informal one to ones which can be done walking in the nearby park. Similarly I'll sometimes do calls where I'm not expected to be taking notes or doing anything else on my mobile phone.

Re: Living the Fitbit life

#70

Post by tannerc »

TarpitCarnivore wrote: post #65
tannerc wrote: post #11

I'm fairly active — running on a treadmill for 20 minutes then lifting weights for 30 every day of the week, walking nearly everywhere, only using stairs, etc. — but I can't bring myself to use these types of trackers. I eagerly ordered the SE Nike+ band when it was announced, I used it for maybe a week before giving it away to a friend. Perhaps it wasn't as interesting to me because there was no way to compare my nu…

Something like the Basis Band may be a better choice for you. It has issues with tracking your heart rate during intense activities, but I think with what you're doing it should still work. The points of data it captures blows away anything else on the market is doing. Unfortunately their future is a bit in limbo since Intel bought them.

Thanks, I haven't heard of Basis before reading your post. Though your last sentence makes me wonder if its' worth pursuing or not. Any alternatives you know of?
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